usctrojans
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2013
Hello Everyone,
I owe you ALL a HUGE thank you. Very sincerely, I learned so much from your posts that I think I've been able to accomplish the impossible: Plan a first time trip to WDW as a new DVC member during Christmas week AND get all the reservations we were hoping for. That doesn't just happen. So I wanted to return the favor and highlight a few tips that served me well on this pre-trip journey.
How we got the rooms we wanted:
My husband and I are both small business owners as health professionals. So we don't get paid time off. It makes it really tempting to travel during the holidays, since none of our clients really come in during that time of year anyway! But so many websites said, don't do it, it's impossible to plan. I say, DO IT! If it's what's best for your family and you are informed about what to expect, don't let that stop you.
That being said, I did have to wake up at 3am PST on a few occasions to make this happen. We are a family of 3, so we went the Studio route for rooms. I took a chance and strategized to get a Lake View at the PV for the first 4 nights and a Savannah View at AKV (Jambo) for the last 3 nights of our vacation.
To get these resort reservations that maximized time away and point value (December 20-27 starts on a Sunday), and are not at our home resort, I made reservations as many days in advance that I could afford with points and then "walked" the reservation every morning. For those new like me, that means I called the DVC number every morning FIRST thing and moved my reservation forward 1 day, eventually dropping unnecessary days, until I had the exact itinerary that we wanted.
Why would this even help? After speaking with the reps on the phone and watching the availability tool, it became clear to me that what typically happens when the window for your actual reservation finally opens the first day of your trip is taken, but the rest is available. But you cannot make the reservation because the first day isn't available, which means your window isn't really open. It's a catch 22. So your most difficult date to get is the FIRST day of your desired trip. That being said, if you talk the walking approach you are much more likely to get those early dates.
To be honest, no one told at the DVC line told me this. I had to present it as a hypothetical to get the dates I wanted. When I did that the rep had to tell me that it wasn't against the rules.
Only risks are if you sleep in and forget to walk your reservation, you could mess the whole thing up! So only do this if you are able to follow through on the daily phone call and you have extra points (without pulling from next year because then you have to use those).
Dining Reservations:
We decided based on everyone's reviews to purchase groceries from WeGoShop.com (Purchase the Coupon 30 Days before you want to place an order and Save $25) and make our breakfast and a sack lunch, but relax at the end of everyday at a nice restaurant. This meant, no Dining Plan. Also, we had to have dining reservations during this time of year or it could ruin a perfectly magical day.
For us newbies, this can be the most overwhelming part because of all the choices!!! So here's my tip. Download the discount chart for AP, TIW, DVC and Disney Visa Card Holders. I liked this one from AllEars.net. If you just want to make sure that you are getting a discount at a reservation restaurant, this chart will bring the restaurant list down to size.
Next, you have to decide which park you will be at in advance and which days you are going to enjoy your resort. I didn't think about that part of it! Sounds simple, but during the holidays there are so many special things happening that this commitment to a park becomes an ordeal. I decided to take the advice of WDW Prep School's December Calendar. They make their recommendations based on Extra Magic Hours, Special Events and Crowds expected. Based on their advice, we came up with an itinerary.
Next up came the 180 Days Out Reservation. I did so much planning, had it ready, and got only 1 Reservation that I wanted!!!!! Here's the good news, by the end of the morning after lots of reloading and patience, I had almost all the reservations I wanted. I'm assuming that things don't look available because of the massive onslaught of people grabbing things up all at once, and then changing their minds. But don't lose hope! Where did we end up?
Night 1: Epcot @ Nine Dragons
Night 2: Epcot @ Rose & Crown with Candlelight Show Reservation for 8:15
Night 3: HS @ Mama Melrose's
Night 4: MK @ Be Our Guest (for a late lunch)
Night 5: Resort @ Jiko Safari Dinner. This is our day to rest and move resorts. I'll have to let you all know if the Safari and private dinner with the Jiko Chef live up to the hype!
Night 6: Resort @ Artist Point. We are spending the day at the AK park and have a late dinner reservation to travel to the Wilderness Lodge, which came highly recommended for Christmas Dinner.
Night 7: Resort @ Sanaa
Fast Pass Planning
I have no idea why, but this was the EASIEST part of the whole trip planning!!! I had my list of rides/events picked out and logged in at exactly 60 days out and we got EVERYTHING we asked for. Maybe this is the one reservation where being on the West Coast gives you an advantage. The window opens up at Midnight EST, so I was wide awake at 9pm. It's technically 61 days in advance for us PST folks, so don't wait for the reminder email. By the time my email had come to remind me, it was already well into the next day!
Our FP+ Reservations:
Day 1: Epcot in the Evening - Mission Space, Mickey & Pals for Photos, Illuminations Show Seating
Day 2: Epcot in the Morning - Space Ship Earth, Test Track & Mission Space
Day 3: HS - Rock-n-Roll, Indiana Jones Show, Star Tours
Day 4: MK - Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion, 7 Dwarfs Mine Train
Day 6: AK - Safari, Everest, Dinosaur
Day 7: MK - Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain
Final Planning Tips
Airfare and tickets were our biggest expense in pre-planning. It is Christmas week after all. I waited until the last minute before the 60 day FP window opened, hoping that the $199 ticket deal for DVC would come up, but nothing. I did appreciate that MouseSavers.com kept me updated on any and all ticket deals. I was shocked that American Express and Undercover Tourist had a promotion going in October! Based on the MouseSavers recommendation, I got $30 credit on my AMEX for 6-Day Park Hopper Tickets. It ended up being cheaper than the Disney site because there was no tax. I had NO problems uploading the e-Tickets from them into MyDisneyExperience.
As for the Airfare, I basically waited until our our Departure and Arrival were within the 90 Day window for travel and booked the best deal I could find first thing that Tuesday morning. It's kind of risky, but if you don't have frequent flyer miles, this will probably be the best price you can get. I think we saved $200 per person by taking this risk, so it paid off. We also decided on taking a Saturday evening/RedEye flight Direct so we will have a full day to acclimate.
Final Tips I Gained from Everyone's Posts for Christmas Travel to WDW
Be realistic. We have no fantasies of getting on lots of other rides or taking in all the parades. We know it will be crowded. But we also know that it will be beautifully decorated and we WILL get to go on a few rides/experiences everyday with our FP reservations.
Because we are basically gone during the entire Holiday Craziness at home (this is a huge perk that I LOVE), get your gift giving and cards done early. I'm actually so excited that we will not be spending a ton of money going out and/or entertaining family and friends in December. That being said, I'm done planning the WDW trip, so I'm motivated to get my cards and gifts ready to send out the day before we leave.
So maybe the craziness of the crowds will be offset by letting go of all the craziness at home. I'll let you all know when we get back!
Thanks again for everyone's input. I hope this compilation of tips from my planning helps pay it forward to a new group of DVC First Timers.
I owe you ALL a HUGE thank you. Very sincerely, I learned so much from your posts that I think I've been able to accomplish the impossible: Plan a first time trip to WDW as a new DVC member during Christmas week AND get all the reservations we were hoping for. That doesn't just happen. So I wanted to return the favor and highlight a few tips that served me well on this pre-trip journey.
How we got the rooms we wanted:
My husband and I are both small business owners as health professionals. So we don't get paid time off. It makes it really tempting to travel during the holidays, since none of our clients really come in during that time of year anyway! But so many websites said, don't do it, it's impossible to plan. I say, DO IT! If it's what's best for your family and you are informed about what to expect, don't let that stop you.
That being said, I did have to wake up at 3am PST on a few occasions to make this happen. We are a family of 3, so we went the Studio route for rooms. I took a chance and strategized to get a Lake View at the PV for the first 4 nights and a Savannah View at AKV (Jambo) for the last 3 nights of our vacation.
To get these resort reservations that maximized time away and point value (December 20-27 starts on a Sunday), and are not at our home resort, I made reservations as many days in advance that I could afford with points and then "walked" the reservation every morning. For those new like me, that means I called the DVC number every morning FIRST thing and moved my reservation forward 1 day, eventually dropping unnecessary days, until I had the exact itinerary that we wanted.
Why would this even help? After speaking with the reps on the phone and watching the availability tool, it became clear to me that what typically happens when the window for your actual reservation finally opens the first day of your trip is taken, but the rest is available. But you cannot make the reservation because the first day isn't available, which means your window isn't really open. It's a catch 22. So your most difficult date to get is the FIRST day of your desired trip. That being said, if you talk the walking approach you are much more likely to get those early dates.
To be honest, no one told at the DVC line told me this. I had to present it as a hypothetical to get the dates I wanted. When I did that the rep had to tell me that it wasn't against the rules.
Only risks are if you sleep in and forget to walk your reservation, you could mess the whole thing up! So only do this if you are able to follow through on the daily phone call and you have extra points (without pulling from next year because then you have to use those).
Dining Reservations:
We decided based on everyone's reviews to purchase groceries from WeGoShop.com (Purchase the Coupon 30 Days before you want to place an order and Save $25) and make our breakfast and a sack lunch, but relax at the end of everyday at a nice restaurant. This meant, no Dining Plan. Also, we had to have dining reservations during this time of year or it could ruin a perfectly magical day.
For us newbies, this can be the most overwhelming part because of all the choices!!! So here's my tip. Download the discount chart for AP, TIW, DVC and Disney Visa Card Holders. I liked this one from AllEars.net. If you just want to make sure that you are getting a discount at a reservation restaurant, this chart will bring the restaurant list down to size.
Next, you have to decide which park you will be at in advance and which days you are going to enjoy your resort. I didn't think about that part of it! Sounds simple, but during the holidays there are so many special things happening that this commitment to a park becomes an ordeal. I decided to take the advice of WDW Prep School's December Calendar. They make their recommendations based on Extra Magic Hours, Special Events and Crowds expected. Based on their advice, we came up with an itinerary.
Next up came the 180 Days Out Reservation. I did so much planning, had it ready, and got only 1 Reservation that I wanted!!!!! Here's the good news, by the end of the morning after lots of reloading and patience, I had almost all the reservations I wanted. I'm assuming that things don't look available because of the massive onslaught of people grabbing things up all at once, and then changing their minds. But don't lose hope! Where did we end up?
Night 1: Epcot @ Nine Dragons
Night 2: Epcot @ Rose & Crown with Candlelight Show Reservation for 8:15
Night 3: HS @ Mama Melrose's
Night 4: MK @ Be Our Guest (for a late lunch)
Night 5: Resort @ Jiko Safari Dinner. This is our day to rest and move resorts. I'll have to let you all know if the Safari and private dinner with the Jiko Chef live up to the hype!
Night 6: Resort @ Artist Point. We are spending the day at the AK park and have a late dinner reservation to travel to the Wilderness Lodge, which came highly recommended for Christmas Dinner.
Night 7: Resort @ Sanaa
Fast Pass Planning
I have no idea why, but this was the EASIEST part of the whole trip planning!!! I had my list of rides/events picked out and logged in at exactly 60 days out and we got EVERYTHING we asked for. Maybe this is the one reservation where being on the West Coast gives you an advantage. The window opens up at Midnight EST, so I was wide awake at 9pm. It's technically 61 days in advance for us PST folks, so don't wait for the reminder email. By the time my email had come to remind me, it was already well into the next day!
Our FP+ Reservations:
Day 1: Epcot in the Evening - Mission Space, Mickey & Pals for Photos, Illuminations Show Seating
Day 2: Epcot in the Morning - Space Ship Earth, Test Track & Mission Space
Day 3: HS - Rock-n-Roll, Indiana Jones Show, Star Tours
Day 4: MK - Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion, 7 Dwarfs Mine Train
Day 6: AK - Safari, Everest, Dinosaur
Day 7: MK - Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain
Final Planning Tips
Airfare and tickets were our biggest expense in pre-planning. It is Christmas week after all. I waited until the last minute before the 60 day FP window opened, hoping that the $199 ticket deal for DVC would come up, but nothing. I did appreciate that MouseSavers.com kept me updated on any and all ticket deals. I was shocked that American Express and Undercover Tourist had a promotion going in October! Based on the MouseSavers recommendation, I got $30 credit on my AMEX for 6-Day Park Hopper Tickets. It ended up being cheaper than the Disney site because there was no tax. I had NO problems uploading the e-Tickets from them into MyDisneyExperience.
As for the Airfare, I basically waited until our our Departure and Arrival were within the 90 Day window for travel and booked the best deal I could find first thing that Tuesday morning. It's kind of risky, but if you don't have frequent flyer miles, this will probably be the best price you can get. I think we saved $200 per person by taking this risk, so it paid off. We also decided on taking a Saturday evening/RedEye flight Direct so we will have a full day to acclimate.
Final Tips I Gained from Everyone's Posts for Christmas Travel to WDW
Be realistic. We have no fantasies of getting on lots of other rides or taking in all the parades. We know it will be crowded. But we also know that it will be beautifully decorated and we WILL get to go on a few rides/experiences everyday with our FP reservations.
Because we are basically gone during the entire Holiday Craziness at home (this is a huge perk that I LOVE), get your gift giving and cards done early. I'm actually so excited that we will not be spending a ton of money going out and/or entertaining family and friends in December. That being said, I'm done planning the WDW trip, so I'm motivated to get my cards and gifts ready to send out the day before we leave.
So maybe the craziness of the crowds will be offset by letting go of all the craziness at home. I'll let you all know when we get back!
Thanks again for everyone's input. I hope this compilation of tips from my planning helps pay it forward to a new group of DVC First Timers.
